Description
Often thought of today as a poetic panegyric to the ‘scepter’d isle’ of ‘England’ (which of course includes England, Wales, and Scotland), John of Gaunt’s famous death-bed speech from Richard II, though filled with exquisitely worded exaltations, is in fact a lament for the prophesied loss of everything his words exalt. About two thirds of the way through, the speech suddenly and dramatically changes its tone, as the nostalgic national pride of its opening gives way to a bitter complaint against Richard’s misrule, bleakly foretelling the turmoil of the civil war to come. It really is a speech in two distinct halves: in spite of its dramatic context, there is no denying that the first half provides a beautiful English encomium, irresistibly apposite for a national celebration or English moment in a choral ’round the world trip’ (which is in fact what this piece was commissioned for). When the second half is added, it becomes quite the opposite: a fierce expression of dissent. Likewise, this setting was conceived in two halves. The first, a song of praise to the scepter’d isle of Britain, is finished, performed, and available to peruse! The second has yet to be written – ever since creating version 1, in response to a commission, Stef has been waiting for an opportunity to finish the job. It’s just waiting for the right choir, and an appropriate occasion to complain about the dire state of our country. . . Well, no time like the present!
If you’d like to attack the government in song-form (without the couple of problematic lines about the Crusades), why not drop Stef a line?
The Crucial Info
Forces: SSAATTB
Duration: c. 5′
Text: Excerpts from Richard II, Act 2, Scene 1, by William Shakespeare
Date of composition: 2013
Premiere: Soon Amore Singers (dir. Graham Bier), St Olave’s Church, York, 2013.
Other performances include: Inter Alios Choir, Churchill Music Society (dir. Ewan Campbell), Murray Edwards College, Cambridge, 2020.
Listen
Midi demo (no-one likes midi, but it’s better than nothing!):
Perusal Score
Text
Extracts from Richard II, Act 2, Scene 1
JOHN OF GAUNT:
This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
. . . .
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
. . . .
England, bound in with the triumphant sea Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege Of watery Neptune. . .
Perform this Piece
Please contact Stef for more information and/or a license to perform this piece.